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One of the major debates surrounding the emergence of the new typographic
forms is legibility. It seems that the old theories and “rules” concerning legibility
are outdated. How does an optimum line width of between 18 and 24 picas, which was
determined in 1929, communicate to the readers of today, who have a better tolerance
for longer line widths? It is hard to validate these old rules when one looks at the
many different ways that we receive information (television, movies, video games, computers,
etc.), and understand that society is more visually literate and used to a sophisticated
level of coding and pace. Clearly, there is a need to update our thinking concerning legibility.
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There is a gray area between what is readability and what is legibility.
In studying legibility Dr. Miles Tinker, an internationally recognized authority on print
legibility, defines legibility as concern for perceiving letters and words, and the
reading of continuous textural material. He theorized that the shapes of letters must
be discriminated, the characteristic word forms perceived, and continuous text read
accurately, rapidly, easily, and with understanding. In earlier writings he had used
the word readability to define what he would later term legibility. It can be said that
a minimum requirement for text type is that it be legible, which means that it be large
enough and distinct enough so that the reader can discriminate between individual word
and letters. Readability is the quality that make text easy to read, inviting and pleasurable
to the eye. Text can be legible, but if the reader gets bored and tired, the designer has
not achieved maximum readability.26 |
